Stephen Masty over at The Imaginative Conservative has struck a well-driven point. He reminds us that many “historians,” focusing on the most violent times and belligerent of men, heap praise and accolades on their subjects’ strength and power above the quietly constructive times. This is no where more evident than in how our Presidents are presented. The sweeping changes of the Depression and Second World War starring the dishonest, cavalier, but dashing and forceful, Franklin D. Roosevelt, have made for many a recurring narrative where intentions and appearances count more than results and substance. Or how about the violence of the Great War, the one Woodrow Wilson promised to spare America?

Though historical “scholars” enter academia with the bones of Wilson or FDR somewhere among their relics, what about the peacemakers, like Mr. Calvin Coolidge? What of those of whom it is said, “They shall be called sons of God”? Or is it the “God” part that scares “historians” so? What of those who believed that great times were not periods of destruction and bloody devastation but the rebuilding of what has fallen, the strengthening of those principles that matter, the fortification of character and faith, not animosity and upheaval? What of those who did not regard greatness as a thing only occurring in global scale or in large personalities but rather in the thousands of little things done rightly or in the strength of bravely-led, simply-lived, and humbly-walked lives all across history?

Mr. Coolidge again stands tall in this estimation. Perhaps a return to learning what the peacemakers have to offer is in order.

President Coolidge with Sir Harry and Mrs. Lauder at the White House, 1926. Churchill once called Lauder, famous for his musical and comedic talents, “Scotland’s greatest ambassador.”

Finally, here are the favorite selections of President Coolidge’s Memorial Day Address given on the battlefield at Gettysburg, May 30, 1928.

Happy Memorial Day to all those who have served our country, from the very beginning, from those who first put on the blue and gray to those whose bodies now rest in graves all around the world not for conquest or empire but for the surpassing worth of America’s highest and best ideals. Motivated by her foundational appeal to righteousness and law, and her selfless service to requests time and time again by peoples and nations the world over, America’s uniformed deserve, now more than ever, our remembrance and esteem. When we could have enhanced imperial dreams and be occupying country after country to this day, it was America which left first, setting the example for others to disarm and restore the civilized burdens of peace.

From Cuba to the Ruhr Valley, from Berlin to Tokyo, we left each people to work out their own salvation and to let us return to our own toil and task. We ask for not a single foot of ground, save that to bury our dead in service to the cause of liberty, peace, and the well-being of all nations. In a human history full of injustice, cruelty and domination, what America has done, in deliberately deviating from that “norm,” is a legacy not to malign, obscure or misrepresent but is one deserving of the highest praise and honor. Thank you, Mr. Coolidge, for reminding us of such important truths.

Here are some favorite selections from the Memorial Day Address of May 31, 1926.